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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Obama's Ministry of Truth

Back on December 23rd of last year the NDAA of 2017 was used as a trojan horse to pass H.R. 5181: Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016. You can find the relevant portions of H.R. 5181 in Section 1287 of the NDAA of 2017, which starts on page 1396.

Establishment.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and other relevant departments and agencies, establish a Center for Information Analysis and Response (in this section referred to as the “Center”). The purposes of the Center are—

(1) to lead and coordinate the collection and analysis of information on foreign government information warfare efforts, including information provided by recipients of information access fund grants awarded under subsection (e) and other sources;

(2) to establish a framework for the integration of critical data and analysis on foreign propaganda and disinformation efforts into the development of national strategy; and

(3) to develop, plan, and synchronize, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and other relevant departments and agencies, whole-of-government initiatives to expose and counter foreign information operations directed against United States national security interests and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support United States allies and interests.

Most of the provisions seem innocuous, until you reach p1402

(f) Information Access Fund. -

(1) Authority For Grants. - The Center is authorized to provide grants or contracts of financial support to civil society groups, media content providers, NGOs federally funded research and development centers, private companies, or academic institutions for the following purposes:

(A) To support local independent media who are best placed to refute foreign disinformation and manipulation in their own communities.

(B)To collect and store examples in print, online, and social media, disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda directed at the United States and its allies and partners.

(C) To analyze tactics, techniques, and procedures of foreign government information warfare with respect to disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda.

(D) To support efforts by the Center to counter efforts by foreign governments to use disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda to influence the policies and social and political stability of the United States and United States allies and partners.

(2) FUNDING AVAILABILITY AND LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary of State shall provide that each organization that applies to receive funds under this subsection is selected in accordance with the relevant existing regulations to ensure its bona fides, capability, and experience, and its compatibility with United States interests and objectives.

As if the $780,000,000 the Broadcasting Board of Governors spends on their own foreign propaganda efforts wasn't enough (i.e. Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia), they've come up with a new scheme to disseminate their propaganda here, under the obvious guise of 'countering foreign propaganda,' since Obama repealed the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act when he signed the NDAA for 2013. The motive is clear to anyone that isn't naive enough to believe the Federal government has their best interest at heart.

'The Secretary of State shall provide that each organization that applies to receive funds under this subsection is selected in accordance with ..... its compatibility with United States interests and objectives.'

by which they mean U.S. corporate interests and objectives; unless you're a government contractor, creditor, career politician or bureaucrat, you are being used as collateral; there is no benefit in it for you. And we should not be so shortsighted to think they will not target domestic independent media that doesn't toe the imperialist line. There are no provisions within Section 1287 that prohibit the Center from targeting domestic media outlets. It simply states...

(B)To collect and store examples in print, online, and social media, disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda directed at the United States and its allies and partners.

The fact that this bill was passed less than a month after the ProporNot libel was published by the Washington Compost, a holdover from Operation Mockingbird, indicates that RT is not the only target.